Contested Nature: Promoting International Biodiversity with Social Justice in the Twenty-first Century

List of Contributors

EDITORS Steven R. Brechin is associate professor of sociology at the University of Illinois , Urbana Champaign, and associate professor of environmental sociology at the School of Natural Resources & Environment,The University of Michigan , Ann Arbor. He has published widely on the human dimensions of international biological conservation, the sociology of international organizations, and global environmentalism. Professor Brechin is a member of IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas. Peter R. Wilshusen is assistant professor of environmental studies at Bucknell University. He completed his Ph.D. in environmental sociology and policy at The University of Michigan in 2003. His dissertation examines changing power dynamics among forestry communities (ejidos) in Quintana Roo, Mexico , following neoliberal reforms. His research focuses on the organizational and political processes associated with conservation and development, particularly in Latin America. Crystal L. Fortwangler is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Anthropology and School of Natural Resources & Environment, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Research interests include examining the relationships between senses of place and perspectives toward protected areas, understanding protected areas as contested places, and exploring how protected area policies can adhere to human rights principles. Patrick C. West is currently vice president and chairman of the board of Windago Heights Inc. and editor, Windago Heights Press, a division of Windago Heights Inc. Previously, Professor West was for twenty-five years a faculty member at the School of Natural Resources & Environment,The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He has had a long-term interest in natural resource management and issues of social equity and justice. 311 List of Contributors AUTHORS Valentin Agbo is professor of agricultural sciences (rural and development sociology ) at the National University of Benin and holds a number of top posts within the government of Benin. Jill M. Belsky is professor of rural and environmental sociology in the School of Forestry at the University of Montana. Her teaching and research have focused on the social analysis of rural and environmental change including sustainable agriculture, nontimber forest products, rural ecotourism, and collaborative /community conservation. Charles E. Benjamin is a doctoral candidate at the School of Natural Resources & Environment, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. His dissertation research in Mali, funded by an EPA STAR fellowship, focuses on biodiversity, livelihood security, and the role of institutions and institutional change in biodiversity by local populations. Delma Buhat is a coastal management consultant and community organizer in the Philippines. Patrick Christie is assistant professor at the School of Marine Affairs and Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies within the University of Washington. He conducts research and teaches on social and ecological impacts of marine protected areas and integrated coastal management. Michael K. Dorsey is a doctoral candidate at the School of Natural Resources & Environment, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and a Thurgood Marshall Fellow in Residence at Dartmouth College Len R. Garces is Assistant Scientist at the ICLARM-The World Fish Center. He is involved with the implementation of the Coastal Fisheries Projects under the Coastal and Marine Resource Research Program of the center. Charles Geisler is professor of rural sociology at Cornell University with particular interests in comparative property systems, rights, and dispossession issues. His recent edited books include: Property and Values (Island Press 2000) and Biological Diversity: Balancing Interests through Adaptive Collaborative Management (CRC Press 2001). Lisa L. Gezon is associate professor of anthropology at the State University of West Georgia. She has been studying the politics of resource access and management in northern Madagascar since 1990. Current research interests include the regional contexts of conservation and protected area management, including the study of productive systems and commodity chains. Jeffrey Langholz is assistant professor of international environmental policy in the Graduate School of International Policy Studies at the Monterey Institute 312 CONTESTED NATURE of International Studies. His research and teaching emphasize protected natural areas worldwide, particularly options for protecting biodiversity on nonpublic lands. Raúl E. Murguía is the national coordinator for the UNDP-GEF Small Grants Programme in Mexico. He has more than twenty years of experience in conservation and development including work with UNDP, OAS, and the Mérida-based research institute, CINVESTAV Michael Simsik is currently working as an environmental team coordinator for Cornell University Cooperative Extension in New York City and completing a doctorate in education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His dissertation is entitled, “Priorities in Conflict: Livelihood Practices, Environmental Threats, and the Conservation of...